New exit sign confuses B.C. shoppers, but is way of future

It may be Canada’s second-most iconic red sign, next to the stop sign, but it’s on its way out in B.C.

The red exit sign that spells EXIT in bold sans-serif font and that’s been directing building occupants to the door leading from a structure for decades is being replaced.

The new sign that’s now the only option for any new buildings in B.C. built since 2012 is a green-and-white pictogram that depicts a human figure fleeing toward an open door.

Public-safety experts say it makes sense in a multilingual society to show rather than tell people where to go in an emergency, in the language of “go” green rather than “stop” red, but a small and unscientific survey in a Vancouver mall didn’t find anyone who instantly knew what the “running-man” sign meant.

“Walk or run? Run probably?” asked Adam Brioux, when shown a sign of the green-and-white pictogram. “It makes no sense. Because it says run. Please keep exit the way it is.”

Neither could Joanne Hua correctly identify what the pictogram was supposed to depict. “I had no idea,” she said.

But she wasn’t worried because in an emergency. “I’d look for the closest door to exit, obviously, but I just wouldn’t know what the sign would mean.”

Leon Yahya was also stumped when shown a picture of the running man — “Someone walking?” — but agreed it made sense to change to the symbol that’s similar to others around the world.

And that’s the reason the National Building Code was changed to recommend adoption of the sign as the new standard for exit signs, 40 years after it was first drawn by a Japanese designer: To bring our county’s emergency-exit signage into line with most countries (except the U.S.) across the world.

B.C. changed its building code in December 2012 and all new and some renovated buildings will need the new signs.

“It ensures that signs are universally recognizable, regardless of the language spoken by the individual looking at it,” spokeswoman Lindsay Byers of B.C.’s Ministry of Natural Gas Development and ministry responsible for housing said in an email.

“The pictograms are used internationally and are more familiar to those visiting British Columbia from other countries, which is particularly helpful in the event of an emergency,” she said.

The code isn’t retroactive, so the changes apply only to new construction, additions, substantial alterations or change-of-use, she said. Minor alterations don’t require the updated signs.

“The sign removes any language and therefore any language barriers and conforms to an international standard,” said Capt. Jonathan Gormick of the Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services.

He said the pictograms are less complicated than those with words, especially in Canada, where its two official languages require both exit and sortie on the signs in some locations.

The red exit sign dates to the 1930s, when the National Fire Protection Association in the U.S. developed criteria for the emergency exit sign that were adopted by state and local governments, according to Slate magazine.

The criteria stipulated size of the letters, but not the colour. Red, associated with fire trucks, fire extinguishers and fire alarms, was the overwhelming favourite.

In the late 1970s, the Japanese fire safety commission in a contest for a new national emergency exit sign selected the running-man design by Yukio Ota. He used green, the colour of “go,” as the dominant colour.

Around the same time, the International Organization for Standardization was about to adopt a strikingly similar green-and-white running man submitted by the Soviets. But the ISO adopted Ota’s version — after some tweaking of the angle of the legs, which suggest people “run slowly” to the exits — and that sign or variations of it have been used around the world since 1985.

But, according to the Slate article, the U.S. NFPA has no plans to eliminate the typically red-lettered exit sign, “which it believes still works perfectly fine.”

The running man isn’t verboten in the U.S. and some cities have mandated the ISO symbol in certain instances, such as in New York City highrises, where the running man has to be posted on exit doors on each floor.

In Canada, both signs can be displayed in one building, as changes are graduated through renovations, but some cities, such as Winnipeg, have rules that the signs shouldn’t be mixed together on one floor, to avoid confusion during emergencies.

In B.C., “It would be highly unlikely for exit signs to be mixed on the same floor or area” and it would be up to municipal inspectors to ensure uniformity, said Byers.

James Bell of Solid State Inspections said the change at first caused some confusion for small businesses, especially when there were few running-man signs available.

“They would be doing some renovations and the fire marshal says you have to have the green running-man sign and at the time there was a lack of supply,” he said.

Despite the code change, the lettered exit sign won’t be making a quick exit and will likely be around for years. For instance, TransLink’s Evergreen Line and renovated stations such as Main Street/Science World display the running man.

“The old signs are being replaced with the new green signs as we proceed with any new construction, such as Expo Line station upgrades, or if an individual sign is faulty or needs to be moved,” said TransLink spokeswoman Jill Drews in an email. “There is no time frame for replacing all exit signs.”

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.